This entry was submitted by Girls LitClubs facilitator in Virginia Beach, Molly.

This week, I was finally able to begin my first Girls Club in Virginia Beach. Being new to the city myself, it was a challenge to organize a group of girls. Through networking, I met three parents of teenage girls in the area who felt that their daughters would love to participate. The girls were beginning to get very anxious as I continued to attempt to find additional members, so I decied that perhaps a group of three could be a very special for the girls. We had our first meeting at a clubhouse in the Town Center.

One of the parents suggested taking turns sending food and snacks because we are holding our meetings after school close to dinner time. As the girls gathered, they sat at a round table and shared pizza while immediately beginning to socialize and bond. There was no hesitation in communication between any of the girls. As they were finishing up eating, I spoke to them about the background of LitWorld and how our typical meetings would go.

Each of the girls took turns introducing themselves and how they each came to be here. When I was explaining the “Hello” and “Goodbye” songs, they decided that they wanted to create their own. This coming week they are going to share their ideas they come up with and we will generate one as a group. We read “The Peace Book” by Todd Parr. Each girl shared what her idea of “Peace” was and how this book truly did a wonderful job at presenting it in so many ways.

Next, I introduced the 7 strengths and wrote them on chart paper. I posted the chart paper around the room and allowed the girls a few minutes to think about what each word meant to them. Then they rotated to each paper had 2 minutes to write their thoughts and ideas. We then put the papers together and discussed the responses. We were nearing the end of our time together so I chose to close for the evening and we are creating a poster next week that will encompass the 7 strengths. One of the girls asked if we were going to be reading a novel during our sessions.

I suggested perhaps if we could all agree on a title, we could extend our meetings and have a small book talk each week as well. The girls decided that we will all read “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” because it would be the most relevant. I thought this was a wonderful idea!